Conventional drawers on cargo trucks and utility cabinets, such as those used by mechanics, have drawer-slides that allow the drawers to slide in and out. The drawer-slides typically having a bearing arrangement to allow the drawer to slide easily in and out. The drawer-slides are mounted on the drawer and a support structure or housing, such as a cabinet.
Some of the drawer-slides include locking mechanisms on one or both sides of the drawer. These locking mechanisms may lock the drawer in an open or closed position or in both the open and closed positions. Such locking mechanisms are especially useful when a cargo truck is positioned on an incline to prevent the accidental opening of the drawer or when a utility cabinet contains wheels and is movable about a location.
In order to unlock the drawer, the operator must manually actuate the locking mechanism on both sides of the drawer, which is difficult or impossible to do with a single hand. As such, in order to use both hands to unlock the drawer, the operator may have to inconveniently set down their cargo or the item intended to be placed within the drawer before the drawer can be conveniently opened.
Therefore, it would highly desirable to provide a drawer and drawer latching system that is designed such that only one hand is needed to unlock the drawer. Such a latching system should be easily accessible while at the same time having a compact design and while also latching the drawer shut when the drawer is in a closed position.